HOW TO FLY YOUR FAMILY TO EUROPE for just 30k points roundtrip
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January 2023: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired.
HOW TO FLY YOUR FAMILY TO EUROPE WITH MILES AND POINTS
Earning points and redeeming them for free flights has made it possible for us to take our family of six to Europe for almost free on more than one occasion. Earning enough points to fly six people to Europe typically requires my husband and I to apply for 2-3 cards each just to earn enough points for the flights. Right now, there are two credit cards with increased sign-on bonuses that will earn you enough points for a family of five to fly to Europe one way. If you and your Player Two each apply, you’ll have enough for FIVE round trip tickets.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Air France only charges 15,000 points to fly between select U.S. cities to Europe each way. Most other airlines charge double that. The flights at these award prices will depart from select cities on the East Coast and in the Midwest. You will pay more points if you’re flying from the West Coast. Don’t rule out a flight because it doesn’t depart from your home airport. This award price is worth repositioning to another airport. 15k points is half the cost of the average one way award flight. This is an incredible deal, especially for families. Another bonus is that Flying Blue gives a 25% discount on award flights for kids ages 2-11. That means their flight would only cost 11k miles each way. Flying Blue does tack on fuel surcharges so you’ll pay higher fees than you would with American or United. Average taxes and fees are under $200 per person. So you would get five round trip flights to Europe for under $1,000 which I think is still a fantastic deal.
HOW TO EARN FLYING BLUE POINTS
The key to finding sweet spots in points travel is understanding airline alliances. Air France’s loyalty program is Flying Blue and several of the most popular flexible points programs transfer to Flying Blue. Let’s take a look at the travel programs whose points transfer to Flying Blue:
Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points transfer 1:1
Citi ThankYou® Points transfer 1:1
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Miles transfer 1:1
American Express Membership Rewards® Points transfer 1:1
For the purpose of this post, I’m only sharing the cards that will earn you enough points to fly five people to Europe with one welcome bonus. However, if you have points with any of the above banks, the booking process will be the same, you’ll just transfer your points to Flying Blue from your account after you confirm award availability (that means you see that award flights are available before you book).
CURRENT OFFERS
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Annual Fee: $95
75k miles is enough for FIVE one way flights between the U.S. and Europe on Flying Blue/Air France
Two Complimentary visits a year to Capital One Lounges or to 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges
Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Annual Fee: $395
75k miles is enough for FIVE one way flights between the U.S. and Europe on Flying Blue/Air France
$300 back annually for bookings through Capital One Travel
Unlimited complimentary access to over 1,400 Lounges with the Priority Pass Membership including access to the Capital One Lounge in DFW
Complimentary Hertz President’s Circle membership (just walk out to the garage and hop in the car, no more waiting at the car rental line!), plus card comes with Primary Rental Car Insurance
FLYING BLUE PROMO REWARDS
Every month, Flying Blue offers a promo award where award flights are discounted by 20%-50% on certain routes. Awards are typically released the first of the month and bookable on flights three months out. This is a great way to save even more miles with Flying Blue and worth keeping an eye out for.
HOW TO BOOK THE AWARD FLIGHT STEP BY STEP
Step 1: Go to Airfrance.com and create a free account with their loyalty program Flying Blue. Make sure that the name you enroll with is the exact same as the name on your Capital One account. You must be logged in to search for award flights.
Step 2: Click ‘Book Flights’, then click “Book with miles”
Step 3: Click on one-way flights, then enter your departure and arrival city. Do not enter a date. Leave the selection as Economy. Enter the number of passengers. I’ll typically start my search for one or two people, then increase my search. Click search.
Step 4: This will bring you to the calendar view where you can search flights month by month. At the top of each calendar, it will show you the cheapest award flight in the month. Scroll through until you find the flights and dates that work for you.
Step 5: Once you find the available award flights, you are now ready to transfer your Capital One Miles to your Flying Blue account. Never, ever transfer points without finding award availability first. These are one way only transfers and you can’t get them back. Also important to note that you can only transfer points to your own Flying Blue account (I’ll show you how to pool points with family below).
How to transfer points from your Capital One Account:
Log into your Capital One account
Click on “View Rewards”
Click on “Convert Rewards”
Click “Transfer Miles” and search for Flying Blue
Transfers from Capital One to Flying Blue are instant
Log into your Flying Blue account and book flights.
COMBINING PLAYER ONE AND PLAYER TWO POINTS TO BOOK ROUND TRIP FLIGHTS
Flying Blue now lets families combine their points making this loyalty program tops for families. So if you and your Player Two both have points in your Flying Blue account. One of you can set up a Family Group and combine your points. This is helpful when booking for 2 or more people. Find more details on how to set that up here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Flying Blue is a fantastic loyalty program for families and one that is often overlooked because it is not an American airline. Being able to book international flights for just 15k points one way in addition to the discounted child fare, ability to combine points in a family pool and multiple cards to transfer from should put this program at the top of your list.
Happy Travels!
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
